Killer deadlines these days, particularly with an OT game and coming up with a story while it’s 2-2. The evolving online story probably doesn’t capture the spirit of the thing[1], because it was written before I entered the locker room after Shane Doan scored in OT to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 3-2 win and make the Avs 1-2-1 on this homestand. And make no mistake, the Avs are kicking themselves about not converting on that 4-on-3 power play to begin overtime. The bad bounce off a referee’s skate that became a D-zone turnover and led to Doan’s game-winning shot wasn’t what the Avs were focused on, it was a power play that went from NHL worst (9.1 percent) to NHL worse than worse (8.1 percent).

The Avs are now 3-of-37 with the man-advantage on the year. Coaching? Don’t think so. It’s personnel. Without Gabe Landeskog and Ryan O’Reilly, the Avs simply don’t have enough skill up front to create two good units, and they certainly lack the offensive force from the blue line.

“Certainly, it has to be better, there’s no question,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said of the power play. “We’ll look at the people we have it and if we have to make the necessary adjustments we’ll do that, and we’ll tweak things here and there. Those are the guys that you count on. It’s just a little bit of a work in progress right now. We’ll get it fixed.”